the government is elected. we had 250,000 jobs lost in the three years prior to that decision in the private sector. our name and our credibility and integrity had -- confusion about the direction our was i was heading in and therefore investment and opportunity was limited. in february of 2011 the people voted and voted to give my government aid resounding mandate to make difficult solutions to fix our public finances ammar structure the way business is done in ireland to work with our colleagues essentially to put our people back to work. because of your sacrifice and their belief and because of their understanding of the necessity to make difficult decisions and because of the clear and strategic plan in place we have made a very credible starter in rectifying an unprecedented economic situation in ireland. so after years of chronic contraction the economy is now beginning to show promising signs of expansion and a return of some degree of confidence. in fact it's now entering its third consecutive year of g